The words, “Not backwards compatible,” sparked a bit of fervor from gamers when Microsoft and Sony spoke them during their respective current-generation video game console releases. Upon release in late 2013, both Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 would not support games made for their predecessors, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The reason behind these decisions stemmed from processing capabilities, with both companies saying that the hardware used to power the new machines would not be compatible with older games.
As a sort of awkward workaround, Sony offers a game streaming application called PlayStation Now, which allows PS4 owners to stream older games to their system over the company’s online game service, PlayStation Network, though pricing is inconsistent.
Meanwhile, Microsoft remained steadfast on their compatibility position until this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in June. There they announced backwards compatibility for the Xbox One, albeit on a drip-fed basis. Digital games tied to a user’s account and physical games would be included.
Trawling through the comments of game news sites after the announcement, I found a near-equal balance of excitement and judgement regarding Microsoft’s reasoning, which is an interesting turnaround from the initial fervor. Many commenters questioned the reasoning behind being able to play old games on new hardware, with others asking why consumers would bother buying a new system primarily for that feature. There were a myriad of other statements, but these were the most prevalent.
My response is, “Why not?”
Backwards compatibility, in terms of video games, is the ability to play older games on new game systems, as long as the games are a part of the same company line. For example, Nintendo’s GameBoy Advance handheld devices were able to play game cartridges from the original GameBoy and GameBoy Color.
Having the ability to play games from a previous generation would assist not only business on one side of the industry but, most importantly, it would be beneficial to players with wide libraries spanning years. The most obvious example of this would be Sony’s own PlayStation 2, considered to be the best-selling video game console of all time. Simply put, it was able to play the games of its PlayStation predecessor, while producing a wide-ranging library of titles under various genres.
Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 carried similar capabilities, with the Wii having the ability to play games from the older GameCube system. The 360 had an abridged list of titles from its Xbox predecessor that would work, although some titles performed better than others. Two-dimensional fighting game Guilty Gear XX# Reload, for example, suffered from graphical glitches and stuttered character movements, but was still mostly playable.
This leads us to the matter of convenience, both a gift and slight curse on the idea of backwards compatibility, depending on your perspective. As mentioned earlier, players with older games tend to hang on to those for different reasons, like a large library containing titles that number into the double digits.
Others will hold onto older games for simple significance: a finished game that a player will still go back to each year for fun, or one that holds a personal meaning to that person. It sounds endearing and sappy, but it is the truth for many players.
For me, a Nintendo DS game called The World Ends With You still sits at rank one of my all-time favorite games, for both its unique gameplay and well-developed storyline. I’ve had it through the DSi and DSi Lite models of the device, and am able to still play it today because of my 3DS system’s ability to play older games.
The curse, on the other hand, is the recent crop of high-definition rereleases of popular older titles on current generation consoles. The Xbox 360 exclusive third-person shooter, Gears of War, is set to arrive on the Xbox One later this year. This wildly popular title is seeing not only a graphical upgrade, but a reworking of gameplay mechanics that look to do enough to set itself apart from its past iteration. An upcoming re-release of the cult hit Darksiders 2 is following in the same fashion.
These releases have been one of the major arguments against backwards compatibility, but the flaw in the argument is that there aren’t too many out there to challenge the feature. While current generation consoles have seen a small abundance in re-releases this year, the key word is small.
The only hindrance here would be the removal of a game from a compatibility list if it has a re-release on deck, a problem that I hope doesn’t become a trend and is only to be used in the more unique circumstances. While the remastered Gears of War appears to be striving for points of separation from its ancestor, re-released titles such as Saints Row IV for the One and PlayStation 4 carried little else but a graphical overhaul and previously released additional content. For those that already have the game, there would be little reason to purchase it again.
Backwards compatibility is necessary. While adopters of this and future generations can surely survive without it, the benefits outweigh the negatives. Older games on new systems is not only a matter of convenience but also preservation of game collections that might be hard to let go of for different reasons. So this begs the question again, “Why not?” In the grand scheme, players still get to play no matter the era.